The 2nd Fight Scene; Zeffirelli’s Film Adaptation Versus Luhrmann’s
Romeo and Juliet, one of the greatest tragedies ever written, is about two young star-crossed lovers, whose long-struggled love ends with death that rejoins their feuding families. Both Franco Zeffirelli and Baz Luhrmann, two prominent directors, depict Romeo and Juliet in different ways that highlight different aspects and themes of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. A particular scene: the second fight scene, occurs when Tybalt, Lady Capulet’s nephew, demands to fight with Romeo, Montague’s son. An immense quarrel breaks out, where both Tybalt and Mercutio (a close friend to Romeo) die. Although they bear some superficial similarities, the differences between the 2nd
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In Zeffirelli’s version, Tybalt portraits a comical and well-respected man, he fights with Mercutio jokingly and doesn’t hurt him, even though he could. One main symbol that Zeffirelli uses to show character relations is that when Romeo shakes Tybalt’s hand when he is trying to calm down the quarreling, Tybalt mockingly washes his hand, while when Mercutio shakes Tybalt’s hand while fighting, Tybalt doesn’t mind. Zeffirelli highlighted the relationship between Tybalt and Mercutio more than Tybalt and Romeo, even though they both swear they are enemies. Mercutio portraits as more of a dramatic than a comical person and is not as close to Romeo as Romeo is to Mercutio. In the end, Romeo completely pulverizes Tybalt because of his anger at Mercutio’s death. Mercutio just tries to get away from Romeo during most of the quarreling. At the end of the scene, Mercutio completely dramatizes his injury so that it is comical to the other Montagues and townsmen. “A plague o'both your houses! 'rounds, a dog, a rat, a mouse, a cat, to scratch a man to death!” Romeo portraits as a “goody-two-shoes”; he begs Mercutio and Tybalt to stop fighting because it is against the law and he is the one who causes Mercutio …show more content…
In Zeffirelli’s version, the scene sets in a public square. Both sides of the quarrel are wearing similar clothing styles. the Capulets are mostly shown in orange, red, and brighter colors while the Montagues are in blue, black, and darker colors to show the different sides. The ground is dusty with dirt, which emphasizes how ruthless their fighting is s when Romeo and Tybalt get on the ground and tumble in the dirt. On the other hand, Luhrmann’s version is completely modernized. It sets at Verona beach, where the Montagues are wearing floral shirts and the Capulet’s are wearing and look modern. Later on, the fighting shifts to a dark road where Romeo speeds in his car and eventually shoots Tybalt. The shift between the daylight to the night is very clear. It emphasizes that in the daylight they were playing around and then wrestling hard but then in the night it got really serious and Romeo was fully enraged. In both Luhrmann’s and Zeffirelli's versions, it is very hot outside with a bright sun and some of the characters looking tired. That really brought out the imagery to show the tension in both of the
Thought the play, these lovers go through many obstacles that range from arranging a wedding and finding a time to meet to Juliet trying to get out of marrying Paris. The entire time fate is tossing them around. Romeo realizes this after he kills Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, in a brawl. At first, Romeo does not want to fight because Romeo and Juliet are already married at this time and he knows that they are cousins. Tybalt asks for a brawl from Romeo but Mercutio fights instead. Mercutio gets killed by Tybalt and that is what makes Romeo mad and fight Tybalt.
Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and Baz Lurhmann's Film Version Previously, in Act 2 Scene 6, we have seen Romeo and Juliet marrying one another thus binding the Montagues with the Capulets together. The marriage had to take place in secret, due to the war between the two families. We see at the beginning of Act 3 Scene 1, the behaviour between Romeo, Mercutio and Tybalt reflect the hatred between the Montagues and Capulets. Throughout this essay I shall be looking at the main characters of Act 3 Scene 1, also I will discuss the way Shakespeare presents the characters in the play and in contrast with Baz Lurhmann's film of Romeo and Juliet, to see if Lurhmann adds anything to how the characters are represented in the film. At the start of act 3 scene 1 we see Mercutio's arrogance, as when confronted by Tybalt, he tells him that he "will not budge".
The story takes place in Verona, where they live two families are rivals, the Montagues and the Capulets. Romeo, sole heir of the Montagues, coming in uninvited to dance mask Capulet, which meets Juliet, only daughter of the Capulets; both fall in love at first sight. Knowing that their parents never allow their union, they marry in secret, with the help of Friar Laurence. The day of the ceremony, Tybalt insults Romeo, nevertheless the latter refuses to fight. But Mercutio, the best friend of the young Montague, engages death duel with Tybalt. Romeo and Tybalt tries to separate fail to mortally wound Mercutio. Romeo, Tybalt challenges and then avenges his friend killing his adversary. The Prince of Verona, outraged by the events, Romeo sentence
Context is the key to understanding ideas and language in both William Shakespeare’s play and in Baz Luhrmann’s William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet. Elizabethan theatre was more of an oral, than visual experience for the audience. The actors had to express all their emotions that were obligatory, to tell information about the character or plot and to show social classes and hierarchy, between the Capulets and Montagues. Though Luhrmann was able to convey the message of hierarchy and social status effectively through costumes, properties and camera angles. As for the men of Verona, they are portrayed as violent, dominating and conquering especially towards women who appear to be like pawns in a men’s chess game. The two feuding families, the Capulets and Montagues, express violence as a means to solving an ongoing feud. Baz Luhrmann and Shakespeare have effectively worked within context through their movie and play.
‘Romeo and Juliet’ is a tragic play about two star crossed lovers written by Shakespeare in 1595. The play is a timeless teenage tradgedy. “The play champions the 16th Century belief that true love always strikes at first sight,” (Lamb 1993: Introduction) and even in modern times an audience still want to believe in such a thing as love at first sight. Act II Scene II the balcony scene displays that romantic notion perfectly.
The astounding perils of young love has been eloquently captured in the story of Romeo and Juliet. Franco Zefferelli and Baz Luhrmann are the creators of the two most renowned film adaptations of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Zefferelli, the more traditional director, created his Oscar winning version in 1968. Baz Luhrmann put an abstract, modern twist on Shakespeare's classic and created the 1996 version that raised millions of dollars in box office sales. Being that these two films are so different, I have chosen to compare them to one another, using the famed balcony scene as my focus.
Consequently, both authors portray strong fidelity as a necessity for platonic love, which in turn can motivate revenge. In the play, Shakespeare employs a stage direction to have Mercutio fight Tybalt, after Tybalt had initially challenged Romeo into a duel. Romeo is unwilling to be engaged in battle, and in response, Mercutio gives Tybalt his desired fight. Mercutio’s willingness to fight in place of Romeo exhibits the strong influence of his platonic love for Romeo. In the film’s version of the event, close-ups are used to spotlight the fatal stabbing wound that Tybalt inflicts on Mercutio. The wound signals the death of Mercutio and serves as a symbol of his willingness to die for Romeo. The powerful nature of platonic love has evidently compelled Mercutio to fight Tybalt and perish as a consequence. In the play, after Mercutio’s death, Romeo uses hyperbole in the line “fire-eyed fury be my conduct now”. This use of figurative language strongly suggests Romeo’s desire to translate his rage over the death of Mercutio into potential revenge. The powerful, enduring nature of platonic love has markedly fuelled Romeo’s desire for vengeance. In the film, during the fight scene between Romeo and Tybalt, Luhrmann uses close-ups and slow-motion effects to encapsulate Romeo’s raging facial expressions. His uncontrolled emotions are further heightened by a shaking handheld
Luhrmann’s variation of the film is more suited to a teenage audience than Zeffirelli’s, due to the vibrant settings and modern sets utilised throughout the film. Several of these sets include the beach, high rise buildings and petrol stations. These factors are used to tempt a younger audience. Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet, however, takes place in a medieval Italian city. Although the original play was based and performed in this locat...
Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet is a film that converts Shakespeare’s famous play into a present-day setting. The film transforms the original texts into modern notions, whilst still employing Shakespearean language. Compared to Franco Zeffirelli’s adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, Luhrmann’s picture is easier for a teenage audience to understand and relate to because of his modernisations. Despite the passing of four centuries Shakespeare’s themes of love, hate, violence, family and mortality remain the same regardless of the setting.
Franco zeffirelli and Baz Luhrmann both interpret William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in their own unique styles. Although they use the same script written by Shakespeare, these two films are different in character, music and blocking. They both introduce the tragic tale of two star-crossed lovers that were kept apart by fate. When compared to Baz Luhrmann, Franco Zeffirelli’s comprehension of Act 2, scene 2 shows more accuracy to Shakespeare’s original work by placing the setting on a balcony, displaying the mood of the scene as more calm and peaceful and creating less emotion for Juliet.
The two families have contrasting clothes, cars, styles and looks. The Montague boys have bright vibrant colours implying their childish and somewhat carefree behaviour, all with blond hair, blue eyes and fair skin, whereas the Capulets wear all black which shows they have more of an evil side. They have the dark hair, eyes and skin... ... middle of paper ... ... Money is not an issue to these families.
The pace in which the The film goes very fast and it changes from one location to the next in a sequence of images, which occurs a lot during this recent film. In Franco Zeffirelli’s adaptation of the film, there are very similar. settings as they are both set in Verona but they have a different timescale and time period in which the film was produced. In the beginning of Act two Scene ii (the balcony scene), Romeo.... ...
In 1596, William Shakespeare published the tragic tale of two star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet. The origins of this story are uncertain but Shakespeare’s chief source for his adoption of the story was from “…The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet, a poem by Arthur Brooke (1562). He also knew the story from Palace of Pleasure, by William Painter, which appeared in several editions prior to 1580.”(Boyce 563) Shakespeare’s classic tale is about “two young lovers caught in the crossfire of a senseless family feud.”(Shakespeare 3) This feud between the two families ultimately is the cause of the two lovers untimely demise. In 1996, Baz Luhrmann produced a modern film of the classic tragedy entitled William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet. Adding familiar images and common ideas, Luhrmann brought the classic story to modern times. Though Romeo + Juliet has many differences from the original version from Shakespeare, it supports the original characters, themes, dialogue, and key issues of the classic tale of the star-crossed lovers.
Another message you learn from watching the movie and the play was that fighting solves nothing. In the play, when the two feuding families, the Montague’s and the Caplets, find their children dead they resolve their differences and agree to build a gold statue of Romeo and Juliet made out of gold after they state that their fighting only brought suffering. In the movie, although the families didn’t make up, you can infer that it was if the families and not been fighting that Romeo and Juliet would not have killed themselves, because they would not have to meet in secret and have Friar Lawrence devise a complicated plan so they could be together without their parents knowledge . Even though the themes were similar, the plot of the movie and the play were rather different. In the movie, Mercutio, Romeo’s friend, got an invitation to Lord Caplet’s ball where Romeo and Juliet meet, but in the movie Romeo and this friends go to Lord Capulet’s party uninvited.
Romeo and Juliet is a play about two adolescents—Romeo and Juliet from two hostile families fall in love with each other. This prohibited love ultimately turns into a romantic tragedy, in which they commit suicide for each other. Both Franco Zeffirelli’s (1968) and Baz Lurhmann’s (1996) versions retained the dialogues written by William Shakespeare in their movies. However, these two movies are directed in their own unique ways, which have several distinctive differences.